Aiden Markram at Cape Town or KL Rahul at Centurion - which hundred in the IND vs SA Test series was the better one?

KL Rahul, Aiden Markram, and Dean Elgar were the only three batters to hit centuries in the recently concluded two-match Test matches between India and South Africa. While the now retired Elgar’s ton came in a winning cause in the first Test in Centurion, Rahul and Markram’s could not prevent their respective sides from defeat.

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rahul scored 101 off 137 balls in the first innings of the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion. The knock featured 14 fours and four sixes. The visitors, however, ended up losing the contest by an innings and 32 runs to go 1-0 down in the two-match series.

On the other hand, Markram hit 106 off 103 balls in the second innings of the second Test at Newlands in Cape Town. The fine knock included 17 fours and two sixes, but his valiant effort could not stop Team India from registering their maiden Test triumph in Cape Town.

In this feature, we analyze which of the two centuries that came in a losing cause was a better one.

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Markram and Rahul - Standing tall amid the ruins

Aiden Markram struck a superb hundred in Cape Town. (Pic: Getty Images)

The hundreds scored by both Rahul and Markram in Centurion and Cape Town, respectively, were pretty much solo acts, the latter’s in particular. If we look at Rahul’s century, his 101 came in a first-innings total of 245, which constitutes more than 41 percent of the team’s runs.

The next best score in the Indian innings was 38 by Virat Kohli followed by 31 from Shreyas Iyer. All-rounder Shardul Thakur (24) was the only other Indian batter to cross the 20-run mark in the innings.

Speaking of Markram’s knock, his 106 off 103 balls came in South Africa’s total of 176 in 36.5 overs in the second innings in the second Test. The aggressive opening batter’s contribution constituted 60.22 percent of South Africa’s runs. The next best total in South Africa’s second innings in Cape Town was 12 by stand-in skipper Elgar.

David Bedingham (11) and Marco Jansen (11) were the only other Proteas batters to reach double figures. So Markram’s performance was more or less a one-man show in South Africa’s second innings at Newlands.

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Quality of opposition and nature of challenge

KL Rahul scored a fighting ton in Centurion. (Pic: Getty Images)

To compare Rahul and Markram’s brilliant Test hundreds, it is important to analyze the kind of bowlers they were up against as well as the conditions that were on offer for the two batters.

Looking at India’s Rahul first, he came into bat with the visitors having lost four wickets for 92 runs in 27 overs. He was the last man out in the innings, having pushed the total to 245. The conditions were challenging at the start without a doubt, but were not unplayable once a batter got his eye in.

To his credit, Rahul batted with great composure to hold one end up for India. His biggest threat in the South African bowling attack was of course Kagiso Rabada, who claimed five wickets in the innings. Debutant Nandre Burger also impressed with three wickets, including that of Rahul, while Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee picked up one wicket each.

Shifting focus to Markram’s knock, South Africa were up against it after being bundled out for 55 in their first innings - their lowest Test score since 1932. The Proteas bowlers did well to restrict India to 153 in their innings, but a lead of 98 was a hugely significant one.

The hosts kept losing wickets at one end, but Markram kept firing from the other. His knock will go down in history as one of the finest Test tons by a South African batter. Not only did it come with his team under all sorts of trouble, but the pitch was also one on which it was extremely difficult for batters to survive.

Given the circumstances, Markram played some audacious strokes, although it must be admitted that he was helped by some poor bowling from the inexperienced Prasidh Krishna.

In Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, though, India had two unrelenting fast bowlers, who made life extremely difficult for South Africa. Markram was the only batter to stand up to the challenge and give India some headaches until Siraj got the better of him.

Coming back to the question of which hundred was better, with all due credit to Rahul, the answer has to be Markram’s. He had the more challenging conditions to bat in, was up against a better-quality bowling attack, and hardly got any support from the rest of the South African batters.